You’ve made it to my fundraising page.
ABOUT THE PROPOSED MUSIC
The piece will be called Poem for my Grandparents and you can read a lot more about the ideas for that in my blog posts if you like. I’ll just say here that I wanted to learn more about my Grandparents’ lives and then find music for each of them to suit their personality and life story. The style I am writing in is a bit cinematic and in the general realm that we would call minimalist.
ABOUT A FAR CRY
Writing for A Far Cry would be a dream come true. They are amazing and their aesthetic is so interesting…they play the new stuff and the old stuff, and are democratically organized, with a smaller and more intimate sound than you typically hear. Is this my chance to break into orchestral composing? I don’t know…maybe!
THE TASK AT HAND
Figuring 70 hours is probably a realistic guess for writing, notating, revising as needed, and communicating with the orchestra about various aspects of the project. (I am not counting the hours I’ve already spent brainstorming, writing and talking to the orchestra to get to this point.)
Here is a breakdown of estimated time even though it’s somewhat of a guess:
Finish arranging and notating my piece- 10-15 hours
Create arrangements of 5 pop tunes- 40-50 hours
Revise parts as needed- 5 hours
Communication with orchestra- 2 hours
Social media and Patreon updates- who knows but that takes time too
Bonus task: Create a recording of the material in my home studio that is good enough to release— at least 2 hours per piece (if the computerized rough draft is already pretty good)
HOW TO SUPPORT THIS
The two options to support this project are:
I’ve set a project goal of $2800 (70 hours x $40) and the nice thing about this platform is they only take about a 3 percent cut (and I keep the proceeds whether or not the goal is met).
If you’d rather for any reason do a monthly donation instead, that kind of regular and reliable support would be very useful, too. I’ll be setting up a regular “show and tell” zoom session for any patrons who want to attend and see what’s in progress, ask questions, learn about the technology I use etc. You’d not only be supporting this current project but also the other things I have in the works. This includes a duet album with Dean Magraw and solo violin compositions I started during the pandemic, and school workshops.
SOME MORE THOUGHTS ON PATRONAGE
I hope our culture will get more used to doing this kind of micro finance. I know for myself that I need to actually take action more often and support the Patreon etc for various artists and artistic projects that I love.
I believe arts are something that can help us in our life journeys and that this happens in many different ways. I know that I just can’t stay away, so there must be something there. Perhaps you feel the same.
In any case, thank you once again for coming by to see what’s up here. Whether you are able to contribute or not, it is participation and community that we need, and maybe every connection between us is a step toward that. So, thanks!